


The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah

by dreamingcicadas



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: ;3, Canon Divergence, Forgive Me, Gen, because i love ff11, couerls, ff11, fight me, fun stuff, slightly shippy stuff if you squint, slyphs, the bros like to quip okay, the sancutary of zi'tah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 10:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13715580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingcicadas/pseuds/dreamingcicadas
Summary: A canon divergence of the Trial of Ramuh where Noct and co traverse the Sancutary of a Astral to gain his favor.Here, they explore a forest that only exists when the sun is setting on the wrong side of the horizon, where North is South and East is West.[ Because I find the Trial of Ramuh should have been so much more, even if Ramuh didn't want to fight].





	The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jaciopara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaciopara/gifts).



Ardyn _Izunia_ , the Chancellor of Niflheim was an unforeseen ally in the battle against the Archean, but the Chancellor’s power could only reach so far. Noct and his friends were deposited back in Duscae at Wiz’s ranch _without_ the Regalia, and traversing a storm conjured by Ramuh may have gave them more time to find the Astral’s sanctuary if they weren’t for the fact they were travelling by chocobo-back.

See, Noct supposedly was on a journey to receive the blessing of the gods, six in total, to defeat _“ darkness ”_  which was based off some kind of arbitrary reason of good and evil. What made matters worse was the fact that their compass to navigate through all of this trouble was only solved if they could code-break the riddles of a near-omnipresent messenger.

So Noctis and his friends had set forth into the wilderness, guided by Gentiana’s archaic and outdated proverbs to fulfill his destiny. Noct should have felt grateful that he didn’t have to travel on foot but he and his companions were forced to use the cover of the wilderness to avoid Niflheim airships from discovering them. If they edged too close to the roads, dozens of MT units would drop from the sky, all of their sensors pinpointing Noctis like they had his profile written into their code---and Noct had already suffered a few close calls that left him with some pretty nasty scars. Dealing with giant toads and monster-sized bugs was the lesser of two evils now that no one had to worry about Deadeye.

They found the stupid cave that Gentiana marked, and lo and behold the Niffs were guarding it. Noct should have known better than to feel surprised, those bastards always _knew_ where they were headed next.  The cave was nestled in the far mountains that served as a borderline for Lucis’ people, which the group personally suffered trudging through the Nebulwood and Alstor’s Slough to reach it. As the four of them hopped off their chocobos to engage with the enemy a piercing roar cut through the air and a bird-beast the size of three garulas stacked together swooped down and hooked its talons into a group of Niflheim soldiers.

“ It must be the weather causing her to hunt in the lowlands,” Gladiolus commented, pulling Noctis behind him as he watched the beast fly overhead to search for more prey.

Ignis gestured for the group to stay low and let the monster take out their enemy, he and Gladio exchanging glances and looks like they were communicating words.

“Fight smarter, not harder,” he said, would always say, and they hid behind a crop of boulders as Gladiolus, Noctis and Prompto watched their advisor carefully, waiting for the signal for when it was best to move out.

“  At least it’s not a megatoad,” Noctis grumbled, shifting his weight so he didn’t sink further into the mud that used to be the ground.

There were only a few soldiers left, MT units. Noctis watched the monster fly high, likely back to its roost after the rest of the Niflheim soldiers became its meal.

He slammed his blade into one of the units with a conjured up spear, the warp strike immediately killing it, if the MT _had_ a heart.

Another MT-unit was sneaking up behind Noctis but before it could sink its axe into his back, a shatter-shot sounded from Prompto and the only thing left was a scream as the essence of the automata left behind its metal container.

The last enemy was taken down by the combined effort of both Ignis and Noctis--this time Noct switched over to a matching pair of kukris. Together, they threw the knives, back to back, each blade hitting a vital point. Ignis adjusted his glasses as the MT fell and joined the rest of its comrades.

“ Looks like it’s all clear,” Prompto said with a giddy voice, sharing a fist bump with Noct. The storm hadn’t cleared at all, the sky was a wash of gray with rolling lightning that lit up the dark stormclouds. The rain didn’t ease up either and the guys were drenched from head to toe in a cold wetness.

“ Time to get this show on the road before Lestallum becomes a lake,” Noctis said, rolling his shoulders, ignoring his shivering bones.

  


\--

 

Even here, a place that housed the power of a god, daemons were plentiful in numbers. They stretched out from cozy nooks and crannies like they owned the place. Maybe they did, the darkness here seemed old and undisturbed for years even if the Niffs arrived here first. Though all of them couldn’t shake away the nagging feeling that the daemons lied in wait for Noct--for their chance to strike the “chosen” down, which was never good news even if they none knew what that role meant.

Shadows peeled off the cave walls, wrapping around daemons who only left behind a cheshire smile in their wake. It was a common tactic observed in battle, little taunts like this would allow enough time for the daemons to blindside their target, materializing behind their prey to land the killing blow. The majority of the fiends focused on Prompto or Noctis though fortunately the countless number of ambushes and attempted-assassinations from the Niffs had sharpened their reflexes. And they showed off those skills, Prompto and Noctis switching their weapons in mid-battle like it was No Big Deal--Noct now using his partner’s gun to shoot at the daemons from afar as Prompto used engine blade to parry the blows of Necromancers.

Noctis switched to a giant broadsword and swung it, cleaving a whole row of daemons in half and before the daemons could even _reform_ Noct shattered a vial of fire to make sure they didn’t come back.

The _King_ of Lucis may had a bounty for being royalty but Noctis himself reckoned quite a reputation after razing down so many Niff bases.

-

The first shrine of the Fulgurian was decrepit, small and it was only found as a lucky shot in the convoluting maze of tunnels. It was not what one would expect out of something that was god-touched, the spirals of magic had crystallized into branches, akin to the likes of a withering sapling. Noct raised his gloved hand towards one of its branches, the purplish glow hummed as arcs of lightning jumped over his arm and into Noctis’ chest. Earth around them shattered as boulders fell, blocking the path they used to reach the shrine.

“ Was that it?” Noctis said looking over to Gladio, who shrugged. “ That trial was a piece of cake compared to Titan. Now we just have to figure out how to get out of here.”

“ Only forward now,” Ignis commented, as all four of them watched a new path light up before their eyes.

“ Down the rabbit hole?” Noctis asked to no one in particular.

“ I prefer the term yellow-brick-road,” Prompto tried for, falling flat on optimism.

“ Try not to die,” Gladiolus said gruffly, “ We don’t want another daemon thinking it’s your mom.”

“ You make it sound like I’m disagreeing with these points,” Prompto shot back. “ Let’s be clear, I am not up for adoption and I enjoy living.”

The two of them stopped their quarreling as they saw Ignis and Noctis halt in their tracks.  The two of them turned the corner to see what swallowed up their attention.

“ There’s light?” Noctis asked incredulously. The light pooled against the cave wall,  so bright it cut a clear line between the darkness of the cave and the apparent outside. It was too jarring to look at for long, burning marks into their vision.

“ I guess Ramuh is looking out for us,” Noct said. “ I thought we were pretty deep in that cave.”

“ No good of a Chosen if he starves to death in a cave,” Ignis commented.

“ True,” Noct said. “ Now it’s time to get the Regalia back, I guess.”

 

-

 

“ I feel like I’m tripping balls man,” Prompto said, the last to exit the cave they spent fighting their way in. The forest here looked nothing of Duscae. The trees towered over them, higher than the skyscrapers back in their home city. It wasn’t storming, but the sky threatened to, rumbling its discontent frequently in claps and booms.

“ And here I thought I was going to have something come easy,” Noctis said.

“ Nothing worthwhile comes easy,” Ignis commented back.

Ignis and Gladiolus took the front of their group. Gladio watched the rustling of the leaves with careful consideration and the others tensed with anticipation that some ferocious beast would leap out at any moment.

“ I spot a haven up ahead,” Ignis said, pointing one of his blades to glittering trail of smoke in the middle of a clearing.

“ Has my dad been here before?” Noctis asked out loud. “ I don’t remember a forest close to home this enormous.”

“ It wasn’t in your studies, or mine for that matter,” Ignis said.

Noct scratched his chin.“ Maybe this is the trial? It looks ancient enough for,uh, magical-ness.”

“ We’ll set up camp and figure out everything from there.” Gladiolus pressed forward, speeding up the group’s pace. His shoulders were set rigid and stiff but no one blamed him for the haste, this was uncharted territory, and if the _trees_ were this big then no one wanted to find out about the inhabitants.

Prompto wasn’t watching where he was walking and hooked his boot under a root, tumbling into Noctis who then fell into Ignis.  Gladiolus was successful in pulling back Ignis, not so much the other two as they fell like dominos into a pit saturated with leaves.

“ Oh my _god_ Prom,” Noct cried out, trying to swim out of the pit as fast as possible. “ There are definitely bugs in here!”

“ Do you think I wanted this!?” Prompto cried, latching onto Noctis as he pulled them both out.

“ Right, let’s check you for ticks,” Ignis said, beckoning for Noct to come over. Gladiolus took Prompto as his charge for tick-watch.

“ I bet they’re _magical_ ticks,” Noctis groaned.  “ Eugh.”

“ They’re called ‘chigoes’, actually,” Gladio said. Both Prompto and Noctis groaned louder than before.

Both Gladio and Ignis were busy inspecting the younger members of the group they were charged with protecting when there was suspicious rustlings of the leaves behind them. Gladiolus pushed Noctis and Prompto back immediately, brandishing his sword at the offending bushes.

The forest surrounding was silent, Gladiolus mouthed the countdown to zero before they all leapt through the foliage to gain the upperhand. Noctis had engine sword summoned to his hand, while Prompto his trusty gun, and Ignis a vial of fire.

Noctis watched Gladiolus faced with the most ferocious beast of them all: a tiny, black coeurl cub. It was about the size of a regular house cat, but its paws were too big for its entire body. The hackles on its back stood up and it squeaked out a roar--but it looked more like a black soot ball than its fearsome adult counterpart.

Everyone dropped their weapons, their frenetic energy shifted to working on placating the troubled little-one who was now crying.

“ Aweee there, there,” Prompto said, shoving himself next to Gladio’s side. “ Gladdy just has an ugly mug---You’re cuter than a choco-peep!!”

“ I don’t like this,” Gladiolus said, crossing his arms.

“ How heartless!” Prompto squawked, clutching the cub closely to his chest.  

“ It’s not that---the mother has to be nearby.” Gladiolus searched his surroundings carefully. “ I don’t think she’ll be happy if she finds us with her baby.”

Prompto blinked, he and  the black coeurl slowly turning to exchanged fearful looks. He dropped the cub with a shrill cry--the kit mewled pathetically, its quivering body rubbing up against Prompto’s leg before climbing back into his arms--its claws hooked into his skin caused little welts of blood to pool around it.

“ Look what you did,” Gladiolus said. “ Now we can’t leave it behind.”

“ Well then I guess we just have to live with our mistakes,” Noctis said, sparkles in his eyes. Noctis leaned forward to greet the coeurl cub, reaching out to pet it. He looked giddy, a bit oblivious to the consequences of Gladiolus, the survival expert, words. “ How about we name you Lia?”

The coeurl responded to its new name by pressing its nose against Noctis’ hand. Noct laughed when ‘Lia’ used Prompto as a bounding board and jumped into Noct’s arms.

“ I mean look at it on the flipside, now we have a tour guide to help us,” Noctis said, before raising the cub to meet it eye to eye. “ Can you help us find Ramuh? I need to get his blessing--or something.”

Lia chirped back, wiggling herself so her head was on top of his. She purred like a motor engine and proceeded to promptly fall asleep.

“ I guess we’ll take her to camp with us then,” Noctis said. Gladio gave him a strained expression and Ignis opted to not acknowledge it at all.

\--

And so, Noctis Lucis Caelum made a friend in the Sanctuary of Ramuh. Instead of attending to his Kingly duties of being the chosen he sought the companion of a tiny friend. Noct’s intent was written as plain as day on his face, the minute it was safe to travel around by himself, he’d sneak off to a fishing hole to find catches that wouldn’t exist on Eos.


End file.
